In what might be the most important sneaker find in history, a pair of Air Jordan 1s has been matched to Michael Jordan’s first photoshoot with Nike, which produced the famous shot of MJ wearing the shoes around his neck.
The original Air Jordans only surfaced publicly earlier this year at Grey Flannel Auctions in June, selling for $325,085. At the time, the shoes were unable to be photo-matched to a conclusive photo, though various pieces of evidence suggested these sneakers were among the earliest prototype examples.
Some of those features included codes on the inside of each heel indicating they were custom ordered as well as text which said only “Air Jordan” and the lack of the “Wings” logo, which was added to later releases of the shoe.
Grey Flannel, while unable to offer a conclusive match at the time, did provide details of the sneakers’ provenance, which said the consignor received them as a gift from his college basketball coach in Portland, Oregon. They are likely the earliest pair of Jordans ever sold publicly and among the first produced.
Prior to the sale, Grey Flannel’s director of operations Michael Russek told cllct he believed the sneakers were arguably “the most important individual pair of sneakers ever to be publicly offered.”
Russek’s assessment, which also placed the pair’s significance above the famed Nike Air Ships, appeared to be shared by the buyer, who paid more more than the most recent pair of Air Ships sold publicly, which sold for less than $300,000 in April.
Grey Flannel connected this pair to Jordan’s first photoshoot with Nike, which produced the famous shot of MJ wearing the shoes around his neck. However, the auction house said low-resolution imagery prevented a conclusive match.
The winning bidder, who wishes to remain anonymous, told cllct that in working with an expert who goes by @themichaeljordanarchive on Instagram, they were able to gain a high degree of confidence the sneakers were in fact the same pair seen in the legendary photoshoot.
As early as March 1, a text chain between the eventual buyer and @themichaeljordanarchive discussed the top lace hole of the sneakers matching images. Then, sometime in May, a catalog surfaced on eBay which showed the sneakers with a higher degree of resolution than previously found on the internet.
It was ultimately this image which allowed the duo to be completely confident in the sneakers’ match to the original photoshoot.
An Aug. 29 letter from Sports Investors Authentication helped solidify that belief, providing a conclusive photo-match which cited various images including the color of the midsole and points along the Nike swoosh as evidence that supported the match.
“You just think about what this sneaker means, not just for Michael Jordan, but for the global behemoth that is Nike,” said Dylan Dittrich, author of “Sneakonomic Growth” and head of research at Altan Insights. “They're still leaning heavily on the Air Jordan 1s today, and if this is truly one of the very first public appearances of that silhouette, that's a major piece of sneaker history, Jordan history and American business history.”
The only other pairs of sneakers lacking game-worn attribution to exceed the sales price of Grey Flannel’s prototype AJ 1s are the Nike Moon shoes, considered among the most important sneakers in history, which at their height sold for $437,500 (though the same pair sold for $308,000 last week), a Louis Vuitton x Nike Air Force 1 Virgil Abloh design which sold for $352,800 in 2022 and Kanye West’s Grammy-worn Nike Air Yeezy 1 prototypes, which sold for $1.8 million in 2021 (though sold again for a mere $180,106 in September 2023).
All other Jordan sneakers to fetch higher prices were worn by Jordan in various significant games, such as the Dynasty Collection, which included six individual sneakers from each of Jordan’s NBA Finals-clinching games ($8 million), the Air Jordan 13s worn in the 1998 NBA Finals ($2.2 million), the Nike Air Ships worn by Jordan in 1984 ($1.47 million), his “Flu-game” sneakers ($1.38 million), the AJ 1s with the “Dunk Sole” worn in 1986 while Jordan nursed a broken foot ($675,000), the Air Jordan 1s worn during the “Shattered Backboard” game ($615,000) and a handful of others.
As for the hierarchy of importance among Jordan sneakers and sneaker finds overall, Dittrich said he would be inclined to place these sneakers above the Air Ships which previously sold for nearly $1.5 million, though he noted it was up to collector preference.
Often times, uncovering a conclusive photo-match can multiply the value of an item, such as a sneaker or jersey, by orders of magnitude. In this case, Dittrich says, while tough to put a finger on it due to its unique nature and the uncertain market conditions, these sneakers “may be in the mid-to-high six-figure range, if not cracking into the seven figures.”
Grey Flannel's Russek said the auction house was very pleased with the development.
“I think it’s amazing, and we’re thrilled for him," Russek said. “We had a great offering”
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.